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Pelvic organ prolapse: a cross-sectional study during mass campaign in two hospitals in the city of Kananga in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

pelvic organ prolapse is a dynamic pathology that can worsen or regress especially postpartum and is the basis of several disorders that bother the patient and alter her quality of life. This study aims to determine the epidemiological, clinical, and therapeutic profile of pelvic organ prolapse in the town of Kananga. this is a cross-sectional study of cases of pelvic organ prolapse recorded during the mass campaign organized in the Bon-Berger Hospital of Tshikaji and Saint Georges Hospital of Katoka in the town of Kananga, from January 1 to July 31, 2023. Non-probability convenience sampling was used to select cases. we recorded 138 cases of prolapse out of 572 patients. The prevalence of pelvic organ prolapse is 24.12% with an average monthly incidence of 19.71 (SD: 4.23) cases per month. The prevalence of recurrence of pelvic organ prolapse is 8.69%. The average age of patients is 54.86 (SD: 11.36) years with an average parity of 7.62 (SD: 1.8) deliveries. Its preoperative symptomatology consists of the intravaginal mass associated with digestive and urinary disorders in 97.00% (n=130), stage III hysterocele predominates in 68.70% (n=92), surgical treatment is the most practiced in 91.79% (n=123) and hysterectomy associated with the treatment of cystocele and rectocele by vaginal surgical access is the most practiced in 80.60% (n=108). pelvic organ prolapse is a real public health problem in the city of Kananga, its symptoms are classic and its treatment is surgical via the vaginal route.

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Modeling the effect of imported malaria on the elimination programme in KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

with imported malaria cases in a given population, the question arises as to what extent the local cases are a consequence of the imports or not. We perform a modeling analysis for a specific area, in a region aspiring for malaria-free status. data on malaria cases over ten years is subjected to a compartmental model which is assumed to be operating close to the equilibrium state. Two of the parameters of the model are fitted to the decadal data. The other parameters in the model are sourced from the literature. The model is utilized to simulate the malaria prevalence with or without imported cases. in any given year the annual average of 460 imported cases, resulted in an end-of-year season malaria prevalence of 257 local active infectious cases, whereas without the imports the malaria prevalence at the end of the season would have been fewer than 10 active infectious cases. We calculate the numerical value of the basic reproduction number for the model, which reveals the extent to which the disease is being eliminated from the population or not. without the imported cases, over the ten seasons of malaria, 2008-2018, the KwaZulu-Natal province would have been malaria-free over at least the last 7 years of the decade indicated. This simple methodology works well even in situations where data is limited.

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Effect of integrated supportive supervision on availability of resources for health care service delivery and uptake of services in Ekiti State, Southwest Nigeria, evidence from the Saving One Million Lives program for result supported facilities.

a world bank performance-based financing program. The Saving One Million Lives program for results supported integrated supportive supervision (ISS) in selected primary health facilities (PHF) in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The study assessed the impact of ISS on health service outputs and outcomes such as infrastructure, basic equipment, human resources for health (HRH), essential drugs, number of children receiving immunization, number of mothers who gave birth in the facility, number of new and continuing users of modern family planning and the number of pregnant women screened for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). a cross-sectional survey of 70 SOME-supported facilities was used for the study. Parametric and non-parametric method of analysis was employed to compare the mean values of study indicators gathered over the 4 rounds of ISS visits from January 2018 to August 2020. the study demonstrated that ISS approach has a positive effect on PHC service outputs and outcomes such as infrastructure, basic equipment, health human resources (HRH), essential drugs, contraceptives prevalence rate, skilled birth attendant as well as postnatal care. However, there was no significant impact on HIV screening for pregnant women. integrated supportive supervision approach has a positive effect on the quality of health care delivery in PHCs in Ekiti State, Nigeria. It is therefore recommended that periodic ISS visits should be routinely carried out in all PHCs across the State in the country and can be further extended to secondary and tertiary facilities.

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Evaluation of Gallium-68 prostate-specific membrane antigen, positron emission tomography/computed tomography (GA-68 PSMA PET/CT) in recurrent prostate cancer: a retrospective review of initial clinical experience at Tygerberg Hospital.

prostate cancer recurrence after definitive therapy for organ-confined disease often manifests as rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels without clinically overt disease. 68Gallium prostate-specific membrane antigen, positron emission tomography/computed tomography (68GaPSMA PET/CT) imaging plays a major role in the management of recurrent prostate cancer. The purpose of this study was to assess the positivity rate of 68Ga PSMA PET/CT scans in cases of prostate cancer recurrence, and to compare the results with existing international literature. a retrospective analysis of 177 68Ga PSMA PET/CT scans of patients with biochemically proven disease recurrence was performed. The possible association of a positive PSMA PET/CT with the PSA level and Gleason score were analyzed. a total of 177 68Ga PSMA PET/CT scans were performed in 163 patients (median age 66 years). Of these, 117 (66%) scans detected the site of disease recurrence. Among patients with PSA 0.2-0.99 ng/ml, 23/49 (47%, p<0.0001) were positive, and 20/35 (57%, p<0.0005) were positive in the group of patients with PSA 1.00-1.99. When PSA values were further categorized into PSA <2 ng/ml and PSA ≥2 ng/ml, detection rates were 49% and 86% respectively (p <0.0001). The scans were positive in 65% of patients with Gleason score of <7, 62% with Gleason score of =7 and 68% with Gleason score >7 (p=0.745). there was an increase in the detection rate with an increase in the PSA. Gleason score was not a predictor of a positive 68Ga PSMA PET/CT scan. 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT should be prioritized in patients with biochemical recurrence with PSA levels >0.2 ng/ml.

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Analysing lapsing rates among first-time blood donors at a blood centre in Zimbabwe using survival analysis.

blood centres are often faced with the problem of donor lapsing resulting in loss of donors from the already strained donor pool. In Zimbabwe, 70% of the donated blood comes from younger donors aged 40 years and below, who at the same time, have high attrition rates. This study seeks to apply the concept of survival analysis in analysing blood donor lapsing rates. in analysing the donor lapsing and retention rates, data on 450 first-time blood donors at the National Blood Service Zimbabwe, in Harare´s blood bank for the period 2014 to 2017 was extracted from the donors´ database. The Cox proportional hazards (Cox PH) and Kaplan-Meier methods were applied in the analysis. Donor demographic characteristics suspected of having effect on donor lapsing and retention were identified and analysed. the study findings show that 56.9% of the donors had lapsed by the end of the four-year study period. Results from the multiple Cox PH model indicate that donor age had a significant effect on blood donor retention time (p = 0.000918 < 0.05). The hazard ratio (HR) = 0.615 with 95% CI: (0.461; 0.820) shows that the relatively older donors had a lower hazard (38.5% lower) of lapsing compared to the hazard for younger donors. The effect of gender, blood donor group and donation time interval on donor retention and attrition were not statistically significant. Male donors had HR = 1.03; 95% CI (0.537; 1.99) with (p = 0.922 > 0.05) and donors with a 4-month interval between donations had HR = 1.31; 95% CI (0.667; 2.59) with (p = 0.430 > 0.05). the study confirmed the problem of donor attrition faced by blood centres. The age of the donor had a significant effect on the retention time of blood donors before lapsing. The older the blood donor, the lower the risk of lapsing. The Zimbabwe National Blood Service (NBSZ) Blood Centre authorities should have a critical mass of individuals above 40 years as potential blood donors because of their reliability in blood donation according to the study findings.

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Behavioral practices towards antibiotic use among health care workers - Sierra Leone, 2021: a facility-based cross-sectional study.

globally, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) kills around 1.27 million 700,000 people each year. In Sierra Leone, there is limited information on antibiotic use among healthcare workers (HCWs). We assessed antibiotic prescribing practices and associated factors among HCWs in Sierra Leone. we conducted a cross-sectional survey among HCWs. We collected data using a questionnaire containing a Likert scale for antibiotic prescribing practices. We categorized prescribing practices into good and poor practices. We calculated adjusted odds ratios (aOR) to identify risk factors. out of 337 (100%) HCWs, 45% scored good practice. Out of the total, 131 (39%) of HCWS considered fever as an indication of antibiotic resistance and 280 (83%) HCWs prescribed antibiotics without performing microbiological tests and 114 (34%) prescribed a shorter course of antibiotics. Factors associated with good practice were being a doctor (aOR=1.95; CI: 1.07, 3.56), the internet as a source of information (aOR=2.00; CI: 1.10, 3.66), having a high perception that AMR is a problem in the health-facility (aOR=1.80; CI: 1.01, 3.23) and there is a connection between one´s prescription and AMR (aOR=2.15; CI: 1.07, 4.32). this study identified a low level of good practice toward antibiotic prescription. We initiated health education campaigns and recommended continuous professional development programs on antibiotic use.

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Prevalence and factors associated with early postnatal care utilization among women of reproductive age in Tanzania: analysis of Tanzania demographic health survey 2015/16.

postnatal care (PNC) is critical for the health and survival of the mother and the newborn. The timing of the first postnatal checkup is crucial for the early identification and treatment of complications. Late or zero attendance of postnatal checkups negatively influences the health of the mother and the newborn. The study's purpose is to determine the prevalence and factors associated with early postnatal care utilization among women of reproductive age (WRA) in Tanzania. this is an analytical cross-sectional study, using Tanzania demographic health survey data for 2015/16. Women of reproductive age (15-49 years) who gave birth 5 years prior the survey were analyzed. Data analysis was performed using Stata software Version 15. The Poisson regression analysis was used to assess factors associated with early PNC. the prevalence of early PNC utilization in Tanzania was 36%. The identified determinants for early PNC were geographical zone, place of residence, access to media, place of delivery and mode of delivery. The prevalence of early PNC was higher among mothers with access to media, with caesarian delivery and to those with facility delivery. The prevalence was low among mothers who lived in rural areas, from southwest and lake zones. the coverage of early PNC was found to be low in Tanzania. Interventions informed by the identified factors need to be designed and implemented to improve the coverage of early PNC.

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The management of rare disease patients from a grassroot perspective: the role of patients' organizations in the global recognition of rare diseases in Cameroon.

rare diseases (RD) are extremely complex health conditions. Persons affected by these conditions in Cameroon are often neglected in society and health systems through the inexistence of policies and programs. In Cameroon, there exists no program or policy conceived to address their needs in terms of access to quality health care, timely and reliable diagnosis, treatments, education, etc. The consequence is that persons living with a RD (PLWRD) and their families do not participate in social life. The unique fate of PLWRD reveals that the principle of social justice and equity is flawed in Cameroon. However, patients, in order to survive in society, rely on patients' organizations (PO) to improve their quality of life (QoL) and advocate for a better consideration in the society. The aim of this paper is to highlight how initiatives from a grassroot perspective like POs can inform decision-makers to address the needs of PLWRD and their families. the study associated a systematic literature review and semi-structured interviews with parents of children suffering from a RD and who are members of a PO. Through the systematic literature review we highlighted the impact POs have in the development of research on RDs, patient literacy, patient empowerment and advocacy while semi-structured interviews brought out the needs of patients and their families. findings, on the one hand show that, in Cameroon PLWRD face a number of challenges like the incurability of their condition, catastrophic medical expenses, stigmatization and marginalization, etc. and though in POs their QoL still remains poor. On the other hand, where POs are empowered they are key actors in research on RDs and help decision-makers on having a better insight into the type of RD that exists across a geographical area, the sociodemographic profile of patients, etc. for a better management of PLWRD. the study suggests that the ministry of public health should create a network with existing RD POs to adequately meet the needs of PLWRD.

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Molecular analysis of genetic mutations in non-small cell lung cancer in Morocco.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a significant global health issue with diverse molecular profiles affecting treatment responses. Yet, NSCLC's molecular epidemiology in Morocco is largely unexplored. This study focuses on NSCLC genetic mutations, specifically in adenocarcinoma, among Moroccan patients to contribute to understanding NSCLC in this population. Ninety-four patients diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma were analyzed. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples were processed, and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)/ribonucleic acid (RNA) was extracted using standardized protocols. Mutations were detected using the AmoyDx Pan Lung Cancer Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Panel kit, and their frequencies were assessed through statistical analysis. Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) mutations were detected in 22.34% of patients, predominantly exon 19 deletions (66.66%) and exon 21 L858R mutations (23.80%). Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene fusion was observed in 3.19% of patients, and KRAS mutations in 1.06%. No mutations were found in other tested genes. A slightly higher mutation rate was noted in females (54.16%) compared to males (45.84%). The study reveals a distinct mutation profile in Moroccan NSCLC patients, with a notable prevalence of EGFR mutations, albeit lower than in some Asian populations. The significance of EGFR mutations in treatment response aligns with global findings, highlighting the importance of understanding regional molecular variations for personalized therapy. Despite limitations in sample size and clinical data, this study sheds light on the genetic landscape of NSCLC in Morocco. The observed mutation rates, particularly in EGFR, underscore the potential for targeted therapies in Moroccan NSCLC patients, emphasizing the need for further research to refine treatment strategies tailored to this population.

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